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| Grey Owl in 1936. One of the world’s first environmentalists, author and lecturer. It was revealed after his death that he was not Aboriginal at all but an Englishman named Archie Bellaney who had dyed his hair black and darkened his skin |
I particularly enjoyed reading the blog of former lawyer and active mystery writer, PeggyBlair. Specifically when she writes; “For those rushing to Boyden’s defence, I would suggest they exercise
a bit of care. We have to listen to what Indigenous people are saying.
As settlers, we hold enormous power. We have a responsibility to be
cautious before we accord prominence to someone to speak about Indigenous
issues. As tweeter Tom Fortington said, it’s too much to put the entire burden
of accountability on First Nations.”
Most of my readers know that I am
Densuline. I come from the shores of Lake Athabasca. I am a member of the
Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation since birth.
My parents were Isidore and Therese Deranger. I am very proud of my identity.
The question of one's identity can be complex
and many dimensional. The issue of identity begins as a personal matter. In a recent conversation with a non-Indigenous
friend, he laments, why do some people want to be something other than what
they were at birth? That is a good question.
Identifying as Indigenous does not
automatically mean you’re entitled to rights as an Indigenous person. Finding an Indigenous ancestor in your family tree can give a person the right to claim some form of Indigenous identity, but the issue of identity ceases
to be purely personal when something tangible is at stake, like Aboriginal or treaty
rights or the right to claim a prize intended for Indigenous writers, for
example. Perhaps the criteria should be more clear for these prizes. Furthermore, people applying for these should be asked for proof of their Indigenous heritage.
Others became Indians through the loophole
of the Indian Act. The law corrected this loophole in 1985 to bring the Indian
Act in line with gender equality under the Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms. Many Indigenous women had their Indian status rights restored. However, in my opinion it didn’t go far enough
to correct the injustice of also conferring statutory Indian status rights under the Indian
Act on non-Indigenous women who married a status Indian. Many of these women continue to
reap the benefits of this loophole long after that relationship dissolved. A
purely personal sense of identity morphs into a matter for public concern.
The concern arises when Indigenous identity is an opportunity to claim benefits that
rightly belong to Indigenous peoples.
There is justification for these special benefits, which stem from
colonization and marginalization of Indigenous peoples for hundreds of years.
We have paid a great price to be afforded these benefits. They belong to our Nations and communities collectively, not to every individual who happens to have an Indigenous ancestor.
No doubt, some of these people take on
Indigenous identity and wear it proudly like their Sunday best; eventually they may come to believe
a fabricated story of where they come from and will vehemently defend
their story. Holding someone accountable to who their “real”
people are does not mean we don’t appreciate and like them as a person. That is
not the problem with this scenario. Joseph Boyden is not the first person to
claim Indigenous identity and he won’t be the last.
And, yes it bothers
me.
I guess I should feel some sort of gratitude
towards people who claim to be Indigenous. After all they are saying, we love
your culture so much so that we have embodied it and have appropriated it as
our own. People, you simply can’t just
do that and you should stop it! If you are one of these people come clean and
embrace your own culture and identity. At
the very least tell us who your people are.
Still others simply just want to belong.
Either way it is terribly wrong. You can
show your adoration for our rich Indigenous culture without pretending to be
one of us. We will accept you as who you
really are. Really. We’re cool like that and I know this is something you love about us. :)
